Though still very much in the hunt in the Central, Minnesota is playing middling ball of late. Their once-noted defence has declined with the departures of Corey Koskie, Cristian Guzman and Doug Mientkiewicz, but their control-freak pitching staff has nevertheless carried the Twins to a healthy first-quarter record. Can the Jays snag two of three? To do so, they'll need to defeat both of the Twins' most inconsistent starters -- or one of them, and a certain Johan you may have heard of.
This week's Scout features a slugging Canadian, a glove man on the mend and the return of a popular hero.
On to the Advance Scout!
* General: Like the Jays, the Twins have enjoyed several off-days of late, and have accordingly shuffled their rotation ... Minnesota is coming off series losses at Baltimore and at home to the Rangers ... The Twins have had exceptional pitching up and down their staff, as evidenced by their collective 3.59 ERA ... Consider: The Twins have issued 53 walks as a team. Second-best in the AL is Cleveland with 95; the D-Rays have issued 160 free passes, more than triple Minnesota's number ... The University of Minnesota bestowed its Outstanding Achievement Award on Paul Molitor last week ... Ron Gardenhire's son, Toby, is the starting shortstop for the rival Fighting Illini ... Third-base coach Al Newman is among the leading candidates for the vacant managerial post in Kansas City, and he's very interested ... Grant Balfour underwent Tommy John surgery on Friday, and Jason Kubel still can't swing a bat after undergoing season-ending knee surgery ... Juan Rincon returned from his steroid suspension this past weekend. Terry Mulholland: "[H]e owes everyone dinner. And you can print that" ... Expect a warm welcome for Corey Koskie, who's been the subject of glowing press in Minnesota in anticipation of this series ...
* Jacque Jones: Likes the ball up ... Good compact swing ... Can drive the ball to the opposite field ... Strong enough to drive pitches in on his hands ... Prefers breaking pitches and can't always catch up with good heat ... Righties should throw him two-seam fastballs tailing away from his happy zone ... Hit a dramatic tenth-inning homer off Steve Kline to score the winning run on May 10 ... Leads the team in walks with 19 ... Generally a good fielder, but he made a costly misplay on Friday when he lost a Chad Allen liner in the Metrodome lights, allowing Texas to score the winning runs ...
* Shannon Stewart: Selected 19th overall by Pat Gillick in 1992 ... Old friend is dangerous when pitches are left over the inner half of the plate ... Can drive pitches up in the zone ... Pulls pitches into left-centre ... Can be frozen by backdoor sliders ... Can be pitched to down and in ... Yeah, we know all about his poor throwing arm, but he's having himself quite the offensive career at .302/.368/.446 ...
* Jesse Crain: 23-year-old Toronto native has never faced the Blue Jays ... A second-round pick in 2002 ... Has allowed only one run -- unearned -- all season ... Good two-seam fastball, which he uses to coax grounders ... Throws a four-seam fastball in the low 90s that he locates well, usually just off the plate away ...
* Joe Nathan: One of the true relief superstars ... Had his first subpar outing of the season this weekend against Texas ... Comes straight over the top and gets a good downward trajectory from his 6'4" frame -- and he appears taller than that ... Vicious splitter he throws at 89-90 mph ... Mid-90s on his four-seam fastball, which he throws with great giddy-up and control ...
* Nick Punto: Small frame but has good weight transfer and gap power ... The switch-hitter's swing looks much smoother from the left side ... Prefers the ball inside and can't reach some pitches away in the zone ... From both sides of the plate, will commit too early on breaking balls ... Has impressed defensively ...
* Joe Mauer: Terrific "idea" at the plate ... Can blast pitches to all fields ... Big guy with an easy swing ... Usually takes the first pitch ... Loves the ball up ... Too selective, if anything, and will take strikes ... Can sometimes get him to climb the ladder out of the strike zone when he's thinking fastball ...
* Justin Morneau: New Westminster native is the heir apparent to Larry Walker as B.C.'s (and Canada's) greatest slugger in the bigs ... Powerful pull swing is reminiscent of Jason Giambi in his prime, especially when his bottom hand comes flying off the bat ... Pull hitter with very quick hands ... Not easy to strike out ... It's best to work in on his fists where he can be jammed ... Fantastic contact hitter with an OBP over .400 despite just five walks ... Slight uppercut to his swing ... His only significant weakness now is his vulnerability to lefthanded breaking stuff ... Matthew LeCroy: "With a guy like Morneau, we have a legitimate #4 hitter" ... Nothing special with the glove ...
* Matthew LeCroy: Long swing but stays nicely closed at the plate ... Legitimate power to all fields, and will use all fields ... Likes pitches out over the plate ... Accordingly, he can be induced to chase pitches off the plate away ... Sometimes gets out on his front foot too soon with breaking pitches ... Stays down on breaking pitches well ...
* Torii Hunter: Injured his right wrist in a collision with Jason Bartlett, but should be good to go after missing two games and resting on yesterday's off-day ... Hasn't homered since April 21 and has just three doubles since then ... Prefers the ball up, even at his eyes ... Will roll over outside fastballs and pull them on the ground ... In complete control in centre field, and he comes closer than anyone else in baseball in approximating Devon White's smoothness ... Makes difficult plays look easy, and can make spectacular plays that are beyond difficult ...
* Lew Ford: Having a bit of a down year thus far ... Plenty of torque and effort in his swing, almost like a righthanded (and smaller) Reggie Jackson ... Likes the ball down and in ... Lays off pitches outside and will take strikes there ... Swings over sinkers and splitters, which he doesn't recognize well ...
* Michael Cuddyer: I think he can now be safely called a disappointment ... That said, he's a good two-strike battler that sees plenty of pitches ... Has been keeping an aptly named "Cud-diary" on the Twins website ... Spray hitter; maybe even an opposite-field hitter, with gap power ... Longish swing ... Struggles with breaking stuff inside ... Can be overpowered with good heat ... Has not displayed good left-side infield chemistry with Jason Bartlett. The slick-fielding (but light-hitting) Juan Castro can play with anybody ...
* Johan Santana: Was touched up for nine hits by the hard-hitting Orioles ... Still, the reigning Cy Young Award winner has been generally in fine form this season ... Nasty slider that starts knee-high and doesn't end up remotely near the strike zone. Hinske will really struggle with it ... Hard four-seam fastball around 93-94 mph ... Tough changeup, too, with sinking action ... Pinpoint control with very few walks allowed ... The best chance to hit him is to recognize everything offspeed and lay off. His fastball can be hit if you sit on it ... Went a shocking 0-1, 5.11 against the Jays last year ...
* Kyle Lohse: Was miffed at having his last turn in the rotation skipped, but will start tomorrow night ... Throws a sharp curve, but leaves it up in the zone ... Plenty of seemingly wasted movement in his delivery ... Good slide-step from the stretch ... Good four-seam fastball, but it's not overpowering ... Likes to induce hitters to chase his heater up, although he's prone to the longball ... Runs a two-seamer in on righties ...
* Joe Mays: Good tailing motion on his two-seam fastball (around 90 mph), but he tends to leave it over the plate, and often ... When he starts it in on righthanded hitters, it's effective. When he starts it away, it's very vulnerable ... Bends a tight slider in on lefties, either on their fists or on the outside corner with backdoor movement ... Was accused of intentionally hitting David Dellucci in his last start ... A switch-hitter! That'll no doubt come in handy during interleague play ...
